Boehringer Ingelheim to present diabetes drug data at scientific congresses

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals has completed late-stage trials of an investigational diabetes drug and plans to present them at international scientific congresses starting next year, the drug maker announced Tuesday.

The 4,000-patient trials, carried out in 40 countries, tested the oral diabetes drug linagliptin. The company presented phase 2 trial data for the drug earlier this year at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions.

“Many diabetes patients do not achieve adequate blood sugar control with currently available medications, so there is a high degree of unmet medical need in this therapeutic area,” Boehringer Ingelheim SVP medicine and drug regulatory affairs Thor Voigt said in a statement. “We hope that Boehringer Ingelheim will have the opportunity to introduce a new treatment option for patients living with Type 2 diabetes that can help patients and physicians better reach treatment goals.”

The drug belongs to the DPP-4 inhibitor class, which also includes Merck & Co.’s Januvia (sitagliptin) and Onglyza (saxagliptin), marketed by AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb.